Quality helps Americans keep old cars longer

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - An industry research firm says Americans are keeping their cars and trucks longer than ever.

Even with new car sales increasing, the average age is expected to continue to rise.

The latest figures available from state registration data gathered by the Polk research firm show the average age of the 247 million cars and trucks on U.S. roads hit a record of 11.4 years in January.

That's up from 11.2 years in 2012, and nearly two full years older than in 2007, before the start of the Great Recession, Polk said Tuesday.

Polk says people are keeping their cars because the quality is better and they are trying to avoid the monthly payments.